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Gov’t Pursuing Balanced Foreign Policy

The chief of staff of the presidential office has said the administration of President Hassan Rouhani is pursuing balanced and moderate domestic and foreign policies.

"Today, we have managed to reduce inflation considerably and exit recession … we are selling more oil and in general we have managed to improve the situation in many areas … that's why analysts have come to the conclusion that rather than pressuring Iran, striking a deal (in nuclear talks) with Iran is prudent and reasonable," Mohammad Nahavandian said in an interview with Iranian television on Tuesday night.

Nahavandian said Rouhani's visit to New York "was successful from different aspects", IRNA quoted him as saying.

The president made a speech at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly on September 25, in which he outlined Tehran's views on various major international developments.

Positive Atmosphere to Attract Investors

In New York, senior officials, economists, and executives discussed economic issues with the president and expressed their desire for investing in Iran thanks to the positive atmosphere created following the election of the new administration, he said.

"In their private discussions, many Westerners stated that Iran's stance is reasonable and even some told us frankly that they are waiting impatiently until the day that sanctions are lifted."

"The coming month will be crucial… both parties in these rounds of talks are trying to strike an agreement," Nahavandian added.

Iran and its negotiating partners -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany-- have been holding talks to find a long-term settlement to the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The latest round of talks was held in New York from September 19 to 26 without any significant progress. Iran and the major powers are set to resume the talks in the next two weeks in a European city.

Last November, Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and was to expire six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks and continue implementing the interim accord for four more months as they remained divided on a number of key issues.

Strategic Ties With Russia, China

Nahavandian also touched on the president's visit to the Russian city of Astrakhan to take part in the 4th summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states and his meetings with heads of state including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It was the fifth visit between the two presidents over the past year and this is a good indication that Tehran is pursuing a rational and balanced diplomacy."

The president's meeting with his Russian counterpart was fruitful and productive and based on a bilateral agreement the two sides agreed to improve the volume of trade by severalfold, he said.

The president paid a two-day visit to Russia after he wrapped up his visit to New York.

It is the position of Iran and other littoral states of the Caspian Sea that the region should be one of peace and stability and that non-regional countries should not be allowed to have presence in the sea under any circumstances, Nahavandian said.

"While we are perusing talks on our nuclear program with the West, at the same time we are following strategic ties with Russia and China as well as our neighbors," he added.